Russian airstrikes killed at least 25 people in Ukraine overnight and into Tuesday morning, targeting a prison, a hospital, and civilians waiting for humanitarian aid. The attacks sparked international condemnation and added urgency to a ceasefire ultimatum issued by U.S. President Donald Trump. The deadliest strike hit Bilenke Prison in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, killing 16 inmates and injuring more than 50 others, according to Ukraine’s Justice Ministry. Glide bombs struck the facility late Monday, destroying key areas including the dining hall and administrative wing. Forty-four injured were hospitalized.
“This was a deliberate attack on a facility housing defenseless individuals,” Ukraine’s human rights commissioner said in an official statement. “Imprisonment does not strip a person of the right to life.”
Zaporizhzhia has remained a frequent target since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Moscow claims the region, along with three others in Ukraine’s southeast, as annexed territory though it does not fully control any of them.
In the northeastern Kharkiv region, a separate Russian rocket strike killed five civilians who were queuing for humanitarian supplies in Novoplatonivka, local police confirmed. Bodies were found near a destroyed shop where aid was being distributed.
Later in Dnipropetrovsk region, a rocket hit Kamianske Hospital, killing three people, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman identified as Diana, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“These deaths are not battlefield casualties. They are the result of calculated attacks on civilians,” Zelensky stated. He called for stronger international action and warned, “Russia must be forced to stop the killings and make peace.”
The coordinated strikes came just hours before President Trump confirmed his August 8 deadline for Russia to accept a ceasefire deal or face broad U.S.-led sanctions. Speaking after a visit to the UK, Trump said the new date replaces a previously announced 50-day countdown issued earlier in July.
The former president has pushed for direct negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow, warning that failure to reach a ceasefire would lead to harsh economic penalties on Russia.
Despite the warning, Moscow has continued its offensive. Over the weekend, Russian forces claimed to have captured Maliivka, a village in Dnipropetrovsk. Ukraine dismissed the announcement as false.
Ukraine’s military also reported Russian drone strikes in Rostov and Belgorod, inside Russian territory, killing two civilians and damaging infrastructure, including a freight train.
The Kremlin has not commented on the latest airstrikes but maintains its stance that military operations are ongoing to “secure national interests.”
The attacks have renewed fears that diplomatic options are rapidly closing. At the same time, aid groups are warning that continued strikes on civilian infrastructure are worsening Ukraine’s humanitarian crisis, especially in hard-hit frontline areas.
President Zelensky urged Western governments to apply “maximum pressure” on Moscow. “A ceasefire could have been in place months ago,” he said. “How many more must die before this war ends?”
The U.S. State Department has not announced further measures since Trump’s renewed ultimatum. However, allies are expected to coordinate sanctions should Moscow reject the ceasefire offer by the deadline.
As the war enters its third year, the death toll keeps rising, and prospects for peace remain uncertain.
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